“I felt like I had let God down, but as I prayed to Him I did not feel the guilt or condemnation that I expected to feel.”

“In the eyes of the church, it was as if I had never left. I can tell you with certainty: It is a gospel of forgiveness.”

“Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, The Gospel, the Church, and my faith are sources of incredible joy. I am not willing to live without them.”

“When I returned, I was ready for the whole thing, and I have never looked back.”

“God can take the biggest train wrecks in our lives, and He can make something beautiful out of them.”

“It’s been a journey and I’m still a work in progress.”

“I know that through Christ, His Atonement, and the hope it brings, it is possible to return to the path that leads back to Him.”

“The most important lesson…is that nothing they can ever do will take them outside the circle of our family’s love.’ That set the tone for everything that happened in our family after that—we were going to love and enjoy each other wherever anybody was in their journey, and we were going to be loyal and united as a family.”

“Be an example of a loving, faithful follower of Christ. Be a safe, non-judgmental person they can turn to with questions.”

 “I do have a lot of faith in the ability and desire of Heavenly Father and Jesus to guide the ‘lost sheep’ back to the fold.”

“I don’t have a full understanding of EVERYTHING (no one does) BUT I have enough faith to know that one day we will know the answers and and the reason and purpose behind why certain things happened…that carries me.”

“I am Heavenly Father’s son, a child of God. That’s the one and only label that matters to me.”

“Your past does not define your here, your now, or your future. I won’t let my past define who I am now. God can heal any heart and make it whole and happy.”

“I needed Heavenly Father’s help to make my way back.”

“Does Heavenly Father want us to feed just the sheep that look like us and talk like us?…My faith is not by chance but by choice. I choose to believe in the gospel and believe that Heavenly Father will sort it all out, eventually.”

“Given my past mistakes, I couldn’t believe he valued my soul that much.”

“[T]here is beauty everywhere, and people are good. Ugly is rare. People are just beautiful and good.”

“I saw the way to come back. It wasn’t easy, but I returned to church activity.”

“My searching was complete. I had my answers.”

“I have to let go of my expectations and inhibitions. . . . and trust that the person who is in charge knows what He’s doing.”

“Eventually, the repentance process ended, and it worked. I got the spirit back, and I started being guided by it and started to understand what it was about. . . The fact that God speaks to His children become a reality for me.”

“Heavenly Father was there when I came back just the way that my parents were always there for me when I came back. So that’s what eventually pulled me back—just knowing I had a path to go back. I wasn’t cut off.”

“That’s been a great thing for me to remember–that I can return to Him.”

“I have a testimony that love and kindness is the best missionary work, having been a recipient of it first-hand. Being seen and loved is the greatest gift I received.” 

“[G]oing through the repentance process I came to understand Heavenly Father and Jesus love me. With that knowledge I can do whatever They need me to do.”

“My reconversion has changed everything for me. . . I feel the broken-hearted, and I understand how the rescued people are just as capable of receiving revelation as the ‘ninety and nine.’”

“Jesus Christ is what brings about the miraculous transformation which I have felt.”

“The Lord is so merciful and forgiving. I know my family will be okay.”

“I want people to know that God loves them and that there is hope. Even when people have turned their backs on the Church, there is hope that they will come back.”

“Being on the other side of the fence, investigating other faiths, comparing them with my childhood teachings, thinking deeply about principles, meeting lots of people from all walks of life, feeling something amiss, wanting more balance, I decided to reexamine my church roots.”

“I think if you don’t know where you’re headed, you don’t really go anywhere.”

“I can’t even tell you the blessings that I’ve received from coming back. . . .When I look at myself four years ago compared  to the person I am now– I’m not that person. I am totally different.”

“I know what it feels like to be without the Holy Ghost as well as how it feels to have this precious gift, and I never want to be without it again.”

“I’ve had to walk to ‘the edge of the light and [stepping] into the darkness to discover that the way is lighted ahead for just a footstep or two’…It’s only been through my learning and living that principle that the Lord has slowly been revealing to me His plan for my life.”